BFD-licious

Tangerina wrote in wanting to talk about my favorite television show, The Office, and their season premiere, called “Weight Loss.” I thought it was an awesome idea, and got permission to reprint her e-mail here.

Hi Mo! Love the blog. I was just writing because you asked for ideas, and I know this is a tad bit frivolous but I’ve been waiting for someone around the fatosphere to talk about it, or even make an open thread for people to weigh in (hehe,) but I was totally fascinated by the season premiere of The Office. The episode was called Weight Loss and the whole office embarks on one of those biggest loser type programs and of course fails spectacularily.

Thing is, I’m pretty sure it was written by people who are very aware that diets don’t actually work. They show a lot of extreme diet behaviors that have been glamorized (Master Cleanse) but make sure to show just how silly and harmful they are (Kelly faints and has to go to the ER.) They show some of the behavioral side effects of dieting, such as secret eating and the Last Supper effect. They show how silly it is that everyone thinks weight loss is always a magic cure no matter what (Michael asks Angela to lose 5 pounds and she says her doctor told her to gain weight and he counters “do you want to die!?!”)

There is one part where Dwight tricks Phyllis into going for a drive with him and then he takes her purse and makes her walk back to the office through the bad part of town to try to get her to exercise, and it is a funny scene but you are very clearly meant to be laughing at what an asshole Dwight is and not at Phyllis. When she calls the company to complain about his behavior they back her up 100%. The only character who actually loses weight is Stanley, who doesn’t do anything extreme and does it for his own reasons and loses a very small amount. I guess some would say that any weight loss isn’t fat accepting, but the Stanley story line is really subtle and no one even notices his weight loss or congratulates him on it and no big deal is made of it- it isn’t portrayed as some great victory, just something he is personally happy about, which I think is a really appropriate attitude about weightloss.

Anyway, other people might disagree and not think the episode was very accepting and anti diet, but as far as I’m concerned it is one of the most accepting things I’ve seen on TV like… ever. Any negativity towards fat and eating and bodies is meant to be seen as silly and mean, something The Office has gotten really good at as they’ve addressed racism, sexism, etc.

In case you haven’t seen the episode, you can go see it at Hulu.com or below. For those of you who did see it, what did you think?

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28 Responses to That's What She Said

I loved the episode too, the only thing that concerns me is that not everyone watching would be in on the joke, and think Michael’s fat suit and Dwight making Phyllis walk home were supposed to be “laugh at fattiez” humor and not the wry commentary on our dieting culture.

I think they did a pretty good job of dealing with the issue. I was worried at first – I love The Office and didn’t want to hate it. I think what made it all work so well, in combination with Kelly swallowing a “tape worm” (I love Kelly sfm), was Michael’s reaction to everything. I think his reaction always sets the tone for showing how ridiculous the topic is. I particularly like when Jim says he wants to lose 65 pounds and Michael’s all YES THIS IS WHAT I WANT TO HEAR. lulz

I loved it. I didn’t think there was anything anti-fat to it — only anti-diet. Mindy Kaling is a genius and one of my favorite things about the episode is when she stands on the chair — not just because of how hilarious the scene was, but because she totally has a regular woman’s body — you can see her rolls! She’s not Spanxed out.

I also liked Phyllis’s comment that came right after Kelly’s chair stand. She asks what other people might like about her, and for a second I thought she was going to be sad about her body, but then she smiled happily and said, “Probably my jugs,” which 1) made me guffaw (jugs??!?Hhahahaha) and 2) was pretty body positive, especially after all the crap that Michael and Dwight gave her during the show.

I’m probably the only person alive that doesn’t watch the office…*waits for the stoning to end*… but this does sound like a good episode. I’ll have to watch it when I’m at home on a computer with sound.

i still haven’t made up my mind about this one! i think that maybe what’s tripping me up is what sarah said in her comment: that the general audience might not fully understand the joke. there’s a lot to like, obviously! jim volunteering to lose 65 pounds is clearly meant to get a laugh, kelly’s behavior is presented as dangerous and unnecessary, stanley’s modest loss is likely a combination of very small changes in eating and exercise habits (we can all agree that taking the stairs is pretty good for us, right?), etc.

what i don’t like is the treatment of phyllis, but that’s nothing new. thanks to tangerina for suggesting that the joke is dwight’s outrageously inappropriate (and ignorant) scheme, but that didn’t occur to me at the time. i’m also not sure that the general audience will pick up on that. i may be donning my humorless feminist hat, but phyllis’ treatment on this show makes me continually uncomfortable. she is by far one of the (if not the only) well-rounded characters on the show: she’s good at her job (remember her sales call with karen?), she’s happily married, she’s probably got a pretty healthy sex life (didn’t she get it on with some yet-to-be-revealed co-worker?), she’s pretty body-positive (we’ve seen her dance, she likes her jugs, she wears pretty cute clothes), etc. and while i like that she has all of these great character attributes and that there’s way more to her character than being the fat girl, she somehow manages to still be the butt of the joke with alarming regularity. i would wager that of everyone in the office, phyllis has her life in the most order, and yet because she’s plus-sized it doesn’t count as much. crippling emotional problems are culturally acceptable, but fat is not?

the office is generally pretty equal-opportunity in the joke department, i guess i’m just cranky because they’re playing in my sandbox and not abiding by all the rules. i’m expecting way too much from a show, but i’m glad this thread got started so i could process some of my own feelings about this episode!

Like some others had said, I am a fan of the Office, but after seeing the promos for this episode, wondered if I’d end up hating it. Gladly, it wasn’t the case. I thought it was very funny, and poked fun at the corporate culture of dieting that seems to be on the upswing once again.

And, based on an earlier post (about the lack of fat characters, particularly women, in shows), I would say The Office ranks pretty high as one of the few shows that has some well-rounded fat and average sized characters (pun only partially intended).

I’m so glad someone talked about this! I’ve been lurking around waiting for the topic to come up on the FA blogs I read. I’m really torn about the episode. I feel like the writers’ intents were not to make fun of fat people, but to showcase the horrors of dieting and how ridiculous the whole notion is. Yet, I’m not sure that the majority of audiences will understand that. Since most people aren’t educated in the science and facts of fat (the real ones, not the hysteria ones), it seems most of show would go over their heads. I would have really liked to see some education come through. Hit these people with some shocking truths about fat, yet still keep the wit and the fun of the show.

I, too, have been looking for this episode to be discussed on an FA blog. Like some others, I thought this gave a nice nod to the ineffectualness of diets and the danger of extreme weight loss.

But while we’re on pop culture, I’d be interested in people’s thoughts on the Desperate Housewives premiere. It certainly demonstrated the stereotypical (ignorant) reaction to heavier kids, addressed the genetic aspect of weight, and vilified the negative impact of pressuring kids to be thin… I was kind of shocked at the sensitivity, but I don’t know that it was done quite as well as in The Office. And I’m cynical enough to think that maybe they weren’t going for that. Thoughts?

I thought it was great! Most people buy into the idea that weight loss in and of itself is a good thing, and they made fun of all that “Yeah! Lets get healthy by losing weight!” bullshit. The one character who dieted moderately and was really serious about it did it for 17 weeks (I think it was that long) and lost all of seven pounds. He was really pleased with himself- but even that was poking fun. Here he dieted, gave up sweets, exercised (even did little exercises secretly at his desk while he worked) and it hardly took any weight off him- just like it is in real life for lots of us.

I had mixed feelings about it. I loved that it seemed to be anti-diet – but it was more anti- weird diets than completely anti-diet. And they DID have the new HR person (sorry, forgot her name) say that obesity-related illness is the number one killer in the country, which is NOT TRUE. Michael started the sentence, but because he’s not a trustworthy character, they gave the line to a character who is (as far as we know) trustworthy and serious. So for me, the overall attitude of the episode was “Extreme diets are bad, but you still need to lose weight or you will die.”

I like what wiscck has pointed out. I’m not unhappy with this episode–in fact, I found it rather funny–but I did notice a lot of tensions between anti-diet and omgobesity narratives. In general, I think this is a good thing. However, I think the message most people got was that crazy diets are bad or dieting at any cost is bad. And this concerns me only because more and more people have the understanding that diets are crap and that the BMI is crap, but they still cheer omgobesity and champion healthism with the rest.

I loved this episode. The office always makes me laugh, but this one also made me happy that the issue of crazy weight loss diets and things is being addressed. And with such humor, I think it was much more effective than a more serious show would be.

I agree with Tangerina 100% I think the critics should ease up a little bit. I don’t watch The Office becuase it contains teachable moments about fat acceptance, I watch it because it’s funny as hell and I laugh my ass off every week.

That said, I think the show did a good job of showing the crazy things people do to lose weight and how they don’t work and how the “OMG don’t get fat!” culture is damaging. Kelly’s behavior being one of the big examples here.

I don’t think Phyllis is really the butt of jokes, but serves to make other people the butt of the joke. When she’s being treated badly (like being made to walk five miles), you don’t laugh at her, you laugh at Dwight for being so ridiculous. And not all the jokes she’s involved with are at the expense of her size (Remember the episode where all the things in her wedding were copied from what Pam was going to do in her wedding with Roy?) And Phyllis always seems to think of herself as hot stuff, and is obviously adored by her husband.

As wiscck pointed out, there was the new HR woman who was all, “Obesity kills OMG!” I don’t think anybody sees her as a credible source, though. She was shown in the beginning of the episode to be basically the female Michael (someone even calls her that) and she spent a few episodes beliving Kevin was mentally retarded (he’s not). She’s not someone I’d take health advice from.

But really, this all pales in comparision to the real meat of the episode: JIM AND PAM GOT ENGAGED!!! OMG!!!!! I am so excited that finally happened! :)

I thought that most of the anti-fat comments (dwight and Michael) came off as their usual ignorant and extreme characters. (which is what makes them hilarious) I think that Phyllis is certainly mistreated – yet it seems that the only characters who actually “believe” Phyllis isn’t worthy are Michael and Dwight – again in keeping with their characters. I personally loved how Darryl always seemed to be eating something whilst (for you Mo!) he conducted the weigh-ins. Michael has no boundaries so his treatment of weight issues was definitely what you would expect from him. I liked also how someone on the scale always claimed to have lost weight – yet the group as a whole never seemed to show any weight loss. Love The Office – Yay Jim and Pam!!

I have to agree that I really liked this episode. But to touch on the “the audience won’t get that dwight is an idiot and michael is supposed to be stupid and it’s a joke on THEM not on fatties, etc…” Having been raised in the theatre and having some amazing acting/directing coaches I learned a great lesson that I have taken with me to almost everything and I think it applies here. “Do not reach down to the general population, bring them up to you. if they dont get it, inspire them to do some research damnit!” My professor was right, I make art (plays) for ME, and for people like ME that want to see something that makes them think and maybe a little uncomfortable. I would say that the part of the population that didn’t “get it” will start seeing more and more things like this (i hope so anyway!) and maybe one day they’ll think “wait a minute, that guy sounds like a moron…..” BINGO!

Yeah, Steve Carell looks good. (Even with facial hair, lol!)
Remember when George Clooney put on 30 pounds for a film and everyone in Hollywood freaked out? All I could think was “Um, hello?! He’s still GEORGE CLOONEY, people!!!!!!!”
Oy.

I loved this episode, which is why I, too, was waiting for any mention to pop up in the fatosphere. I think part of what makes this show work for so many people (and I agree with Emily’s comment – and would add that, along the lines with what cubicalgirl said above – I don’t think that this particular art form strives to enlighten the viewership in a didactic manner – it’s a bit more integrated than that, poking fun instead for effect, using whole episodes and also vignettes and even small remarks to play out issues – “Gay Witch Hunt”, for example) is that everyone is so human. That’s from body to personality to action to wardrobe. Part of Phyllis’s world is that she is fat and also in her mid-40s. And part of her world is that she gets flak for both of these things – and part of The Office’s world is how she deals with it. “We’re the same age,” she says, when Michael cuts her about her age. I agree with multiple commenters that Phyllis comes off more likable and more heroic (though thankfully not flawed) than the people who cut her. She’s one of the more sexual, but not sexualized, characters on the show.

And one other thing – part of the humor of this show is ripping on the human resources seminars, etc., we have to go through in our workplaces. Having a meeting like “YOU ARE ALL GOING TO DIE!” – and having Jim and Angela subvert it – Jim being subversive and Angela not – I’m pretty sure that the whole meeting was yet another mockery on yet more invented statistics and held truths.

I giggle a lot at work because bore-ientation, signs about losing weight in the workplace, embarrassingly retro and unevolved lessons on diversity – still kickin in my world.

I really loved this episode. There may have been some things they could have done differently but it was generally leaps and bounds ahead of anything else on prime time. And I thought they went really far to highlight Dwight as the one who should be laughed at and not Phyllis. Especially when during one altercation between Dwight and Phyllis, this happens:

I agree with the general adoration of this episode. I watched it with folks who remarked that their jobs offered this kind of incentive (though no one had taken up the offer) and we all enjoyed/cringed how thoroughly ridiculous (and borderline fascist) this idea is in real life.
But on another note, my interest in the Office is just one part of my enjoyment of Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant. Every once in a while they deal with the issue of weight and I’m often disappointed. Some bloggers have mentioned Ricky’s own response to journalists who comment on his weight, eating etc. so I often thought if him an ally in the battle to accepting all body images. But I recently bought and listened to their most recent PodCast with Karl Pilkington and am now no longer a fan. They spend several minutes mocking fat children, their parents and blaming overeating and laziness for obesity. Gervais argued that there isn’t enough of a stigma against fat people. If there was, he’s never be as rich and famous as he is! I kept waiting to hear some suble hint of irony creep in that has made me a fan for so long. But he was quite sincere in his rant against people (like himself he acknowledges) who are overweight and/or obese. I’ve never been so disappointed in a celebrity. Both he and Merchant exhibit an intelligence and compassion that is usually missing from entertainment media. This is why I seek out their work. No longer. It seems when it comes to issues of weight/body image they are just as ignorant and mean as the mainstream.

loved the office; hated the new ricky gervais show podcast. sjm, i share your horror and sadness at having to reverse my adoration of ricky and stephen–especially after the disillusioning anthony bourdain debacle a few months ago–but that fat hate rant was totally shocking to me, too. i kept thinking: am i missing the irony here? are they making fun of people who would say this? mo — have you listened yet? what did you think?